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Posted November 18, 2012 12:27 am - Updated January 22, 2016 03:40 pm

Letters to the Editor Sunday

Let’s state the obvious; the crime rate in Savannah is on a highway to hell with no end in sight. People fear for their lives wherever they go. You can’t even take your family to have some fun at the fair without becoming targets for some deranged gunman.

Savannah City Council member Tony Thomas expressed his concern about the crime rate in an article published in the Savannah Morning News in July. Part of this article contained statistics pulled from the Savannah-Chatham police website.

These stats show commercial robberies, aggravated assault (with and without a gun), as well as homicide were all on three-year-to-date highs as of July 21. There were 56 commercial robberies reported by July 21 this year, greatly overcoming the 25 in 2010 and 35 in 2011 by the same date. Aggravated assault with a gun follows suit with 64 and 68 in ’10 and ’11 and 72 this year. Overall calls to 911 have increased by over 10 percent in the past year.

Now I may not know what needs to be done, but I agree with Thomas in saying that I want to know what is being done to fight this rising crime rate. Do me a favor and help this city. Write to your sheriff, to your congressman, to your mayor. Demand to know what steps are being taken to preserve our safety.

Let’s save this city for ourselves, for our children, for our future.

OWEN GRAHAM

Richmond Hill

Savannah needs monthly health care awareness

Each month, a new awareness program needs to be implemented throughout Savannah. In October, the breast cancer awareness program showed its success in informing women and encouraging them to get checked.

Savannah needs to work as a community to spread awareness of diseases and illness. The community involvement would help decrease death caused by illness and disease rates and decrease money spent toward health care.

Breast Cancer Awareness month would not have been so successful without the help of numerous businesses and organizations.

Awareness programs benefit our community by catching diseases and illness at an early stage and preventing some from occurring completely. Awareness programs help save the people money on health care, including employers.

Money would be saved because preventive measures would be taken; therefore less money would need to be spent on taking care of illnesses.

KATIE POPE

Pooler

Students should have choice at Myers

I am the parent of a student who attends Myers. I recently learned that the Savannah-Chatham Board of Education has marked Myers as one of the schools targeted to become a S.T.E.M school — a school focusing on science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

A S.T.E.M school provides a 21st century learning style that focuses on hands-on collaboration, usage of digital media, problem solving and critical thinking. I support this new direction for Myers and welcome the ability for students to be more prepared for college and more competitive on a global level, if Myers is selected, as the board is considering a few of the other middle schools.

From my understanding, 50-100 students from each grade level will be selected to continue attending Myers, which would no longer be a zoned school but a designated school.

I am not in support of the manner in which the board plans to implement this change through a selective process and the transferring of remaining students to other area schools. I feel the children should not be displaced and left to adjust in a new school environment, having to make new friends and having the feeling that they were not smart enough to be selected.

I feel the current students should be grandfathered in, be allowed to remain at Myers and offered a S.T.E.M curriculum and/or elective with the option to enter the full program if qualifications are met.

SANDRA SWILLING

Savannah

Citizens, not president, a danger to America

The presidential election is now history, and the citizens of this country have made their decision. Only time will ultimately reveal the consequences of their decision. Unfortunately, given the performance of our president over the past four years, including his contribution to the divisiveness that exists within our country, I have serious reservations.

I completely agree with Mr. Dick Berkowitz’s comments in his Nov. 12 letter to the editor, “That America is no longer the nation of my youth. It has changed in ways that are understandable and dramatic but are unlikely to reverse course.”

I personally was raised in an era when individuals depended less on our federal and state governments and more on individual initiatives. It is also an indisputable economic fact that our government cannot simply “do everything for everybody.”

The danger to America is not Barack Obama, but a citizenry capable of entrusting a man like him with the presidency. The republic can survive a Barack Obama, who is merely a tool. It is less likely to survive a multitude of tools such as those citizens who made him their president.

NEAL V. PURVIS

Savannah

Nation needs men who honor responsibilities

I am wondering how long independent adult males can support this country and its growing rolls of special interests.

Many of these men view bigger and bigger government as a bad thing. They see fellow citizens ceding their individual responsibilities to government and growing increasingly dependent on government jobs, government programs and government checks.

These men grew up playing team sports where everyone pulled together. It troubles them to see a nation of whiners, pulling only for themselves, each believing “government should do for me” rather than “I should do for myself.”

How ironic that this country is so enthralled with team sports but demonstrates so little team spirit.

These men anxiously watch for what Barack Obama will do next. The economic realities of the national debt will soon be obvious, even to this president.

Already Americans see disconcerting repercussions of a dependent Eurostyle citizenry.

All levels of government struggle to balance budgets because taxpaying independent citizens are being replaced by government workers and the dependent.

I say this with tremendous respect for the hard working women in this country, many of whom are as smart and tough as any man, but this country sorely needs men who stay married, raise their own kids, help their neighbors, go to church once in a while and pay their taxes.